I don’t care about sports, like not at all. The only reason that I appreciate them is because they’ve created things like the ‘wing bowl’ and other deeply fried finger foods that you get to eat while you watch them. But in general sports exists somewhere on the periphery of my consciousness. Except for now when my entire city is funneling beer in one hand and painting their entire bodies green with the other. It’s a hard thing to block out, you know?
Look we don’t have a lot of good stuff going on here in the city of brotherly love, crime is up, housing is unreasonable and to quote a recent article in the Washington post, “the city reached its peak of importance more than two centuries ago”*. We are the poorest of America’s 25 largest cities and if sports helps to distract us from our everyday rage over the inherent unfairness of life than I say funnel away!
I love Philadelphia, I love the passion with which we love and hate things with equal and complete thoroughness and gusto (see why crime is up). I like how nearly everyone downtown today has either a shirt or a hat on it that reads “No one likes us and we don’t care.” I mean, come on – I want to be friends with those people.
I know that the rest of the world is slightly (if not completely) baffled that there are city workers out today greasing every lamppost in the city. But I also know that come Sunday night some incredibly inebriated locals are only going to be excited for the extra challenge of getting to the top of those polls. And that my friends is true grit. And isn’t that what sports are all about? No, really I’m asking because I don’t know… I’m a librarian.
Sticky Jam Hands 